Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan continue their “Monster” anthology series, this time turning to the infamous Ed Gein. Charlie Hunnam stars as Gein, with Laurie Metcalf as his mother, Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock, and Olivia Williams as Alma Hitchcock.
The series will chronicle Gein’s crimes in Plainfield, Wisconsin, including grave robbing and the murders of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, which came to light in 1957. Given Murphy and Brennan’s penchant for stylistic excess, it’s unlikely this will be a straightforward procedural.
Found unfit to stand trial and later declared legally insane, Gein’s case and his macabre practices became a fixture in American pop culture. Robert Bloch’s “Psycho” and Hitchcock’s subsequent film adaptation drew inspiration from Gein, as did countless other films and literary works. Gein’s influence can be seen in fictional characters like Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill.
